NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Call it a Cinderella-style upset if you want, but it was clear from the beginning on Friday night that Ohio didn’t see itself as an underdog by any stretch of the imagination.
Unable to stop star guard D.J. Cooper and the tenacious Bobcats, the favored four-seed Michigan basketball team found itself under attack all night and couldn’t muster a comeback, falling 65-60.
The Wolverines, who looked so tough and so resilient all season long en route to claiming a share of their first Big Ten title since 1986, were unable to fight back when it mattered most on their sport’s biggest stage. They exit the NCAA Tournament without winning a game, the first time the team has come up empty-handed in Michigan coach John Beilein’s three trips to the Big Dance.
Michigan (13-5 Big Ten, 24-10 overall) trailed most of the game after No. 13 seed Ohio (27-7) seized control early. Cooper paced the Bobcat attack all night, displaying his toughness with several tough finishes in the first half and even more of them in the second, with the Wolverines desperately trying to fight back.
Unable to muster offense for himself or his team almost the entire game, freshman point guard Trey Burke finally began taking the ball to the basket with authority late in the second half. With his team trailing 57-48 with 8:35 remaining in the game, Burke went on a 12-6 run, hitting a 3-pointer with 4:12 left to cut the score to 63-60.
That remained the deficit for the heart-stopping next few minutes. The Wolverines and Bobcats traded physical blows and missed shots in the game’s final stretch, with Michigan failing to capitalize on several opportunities to tie the game.
At the 2:25 mark, the Wolverines had four straight possession that saw them miss a 3-pointer — Burke missing three of them — and grab the ensuing rebound. But on the final one, sophomore forward Evan Smotrycz lost control of the ball and turned it over to Ohio with seven seconds left in the game.
Smotrycz was forced to foul. The two made free throws by Bobcat guard Walter Offutt that followed ended the game and the season for Michigan, a campaign that saw so much progress for the program but will be remembered for this final heartbreak.